Naval
War in
Outline
Austrian ship titles
Warship numbers &
losses, 1914-18
Losses by year
Key to main
characteristics including Austrian torpedo and
gun calibres
Main ship types - Dreadnoughts to Submarines

NAVAL
WAR IN OUTLINE

Apart from one major
fleet sortie on the declaration of war between
Austria and Italy on the 23rd May 1915, and an
aborted one in June 1918 when dreadnought 'Szent
Istvan' was lost, the Austrian heavy ships spent the
entire war as a fleet-in-being within the Adriatic
Sea, holding down a large portion of the Italian and
French battle fleets as well as units of the Royal
Navy. Most of the action in the Adriatic that took
place involved the well-handled destroyers,
submarines and to a lesser extent light cruisers of
the Austrian Navy.

The initially small
Austrian submarine force was unable to play a role
outside the Adriatic, and by early 1915 the
Germans
were sending U-boats into the Mediterranean, in
part
to attack the Allied fleet off the Dardanelles. As
Italy had declared war on Austro-Hungary but not
Germany, the German boats operated under the
Austrian
ensign and were temporarily commissioned into the
Austrian Navy. Once Germany and Italy had gone to
war
in August 1916, German U-boats operated under
their
own flag. Although the Austrian submarine fleet
did
not grow to large numbers it had an impressive
record
- damaging French dreadnought 'Jean Bart', and
sinking:

Tonnage
- standard displacement; Speed - designed
speed at standard displacement, rarely attained in
service; Main armament - sometimes changed
as
the war progressed; secondary armament usually
changed; Complement - normal peace time.
Exceeded in war with consequent reduction in
living
space and higher battle casualties; Year -
year or years class completed and normally entered
service. Only includes ships completed up to war's
end; Loss Positions - estimated from
location
unless available from reliable sources; Casualties
- totals of men lost, or survivors plus saved,
will often exceed peacetime complements.

In August 1914, the
three completed 'Tegetthof' dreadnoughts and
three
'Radetzky' pre-Dreadnoughts formed the First
Battle
Squadron, spending most of the war as a
fleet-in-being

VIRIBUS
UNITIS ('with joined
forces'), 1st November 1918, northern
Adriatic Sea at Pola (Pula) naval base (c
44-45’N,
13-45’E) - Italian 'Mignata' (or leech)
self-propelled
mines. With the
fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the state
of
Yugoslavia was formed by the southern Slavs and
declared on the side of the Allies. 'Viribus
Unitis'
(Capt Janko Vukovic de Podkapelski, also
provisional
Yugoslav Fleet commander) was taken over on the
31st
October by the Yugoslav National Council as
flagship
of the new navy. Apparently ignoring the new
political situation, the Italians went ahead
with a
planned attack on Pola. Early in the morning of
the
1st November and with few defensive precautions
now
being taken, two Italian frogmen, Maj of Naval
Engineers Raffaele Rossetti and Doctor Lt
Raffaele
Paolucci, slipped into the naval base and
attached
mines to the dreadnought and liner 'Wien'. Both
ships
sank, 'Viribus Unitis' capsizing and going down
around dawn. Several hundred men died including
the
new Captain.

Wartime
Additions (1)

1.Last
of Tegetthof class, SZENT ISTVAN, lost - as
above

SZENT
ISTVAN (King Stephen 1 of Hungary), 10th
June
1918, northern Adriatic Sea, south east of
Pola (Pula), nine
miles southwest of Premuda island (c 44-15’N,
14-30’E) - 2 torpedoes from Italian motor
boat 'Mas.15'. Leaving Pola on the 9th, she
and the three other 'Tegetthof' dreadnoughts of
the
1st Battle Division, First Battle Squadron
sailed to
support a planned cruiser raid on the Otranto
Barrage, now believed by the Germans to be a
serious
obstacle to U-boat movements. Two Italian
anti-submarine motor boats - 'Mas.15' and
'Mas.21',
both 16 tons and armed with two-45cm torpedoes,
happened to be out in the northern Adriatic,
towed
there for a minesweeping mission. 'Mas.15' (Cdr
Luigi
Rizzo, who sank the coast defence ship 'Wien' in
December 1917 - below) hit the 'Szent Istvan'
amidships at 03.30hrs on the 10th. She rolled
over
and sank at 06.00hrs with 89 men lost. 'Mas.21'
missed the 'Tegetthoff', but both Italian boats
escaped and the Austrian operation against the
Otranto Barrage was called off.

(latest researchs
shows the possibility that 'Szent Istvan' was
hit
by 3 torpedoes - twice by MAS 15 and once by
MAS
21. Due to the conditions - twilight etc, MAS
21
probably attacked her and not 'Tegetthof' as
noted above. The information has not been
confirmed offically. More can be found at the
bottom of http://www.geocities.com/tegetthoff66/szent.html
and http://www.beyondmagazine.co.uk/wreck/svent.htm.
Information is again
courtesy of Danijel Zavratnik from Slovenia)

In August 1914, the
three 'Radetzky’s' and three completed
'Tegetthof' dreadnoughts formed the First Battle
Squadron

All three ships,
serving as the 2nd Battle Division, First Battle
Squadron, took part in a May 1915 shore
bombardment
of the Italian coast with the three
dreadnoughts, but
thereafter remained inactive at Pola as a
fleet-in-being

All three ships
formed
the 5th Battle Division, but remained in reserve

WIEN (Vienna),
10th December 1917, northern
Adriatic Sea, off
Muggia in the Bay of Trieste (c 45-30’N,
13-45’E) - torpedoed by Italian motor
boat 'Mas.9'. Based
with the 'Budapest' at Trieste and used in
support of
the Austrian army fighting on the Italian front,
the
two old ships were preparing to carry out a
shore
bombardment. Two of the 16 ton, 2-45cm
torpedo-armed
motor boats, 'Mas.9' and 'Mas.13' were towed
from
Venice by torpedo boats 9PN and 11PN to within
10
miles of Trieste. Cutting through the heavy
hawsers
that protected the anchorage the two craft broke
through and launched their torpedoes. 'Mas.9'
(Lt
Luigi Rizzo - see the 'Szent Istvan' above) hit
the
'Wien' which went down rapidly, but 'Mas.13'
missed
'Budapest'. They both returned safely to Venice.
Most
of 'Wien’s' crew was saved

KAISERIN
ELISABETH, 2nd
November 1914, Chinese waters, off Tsingtao
(Qingdao) in Kiaochow Bay (c
36-00’N, 120-15’E) - blown up and
scuttled.
Represented the Austrian Navy on the Far East
Station
at Tsingtao. Most of her guns and guns crews
were
landed as the 'Elisabeth' Battery for the
defence of
the German naval base during the Japanese siege.
The
largely disarmed old cruiser was scuttled five
days
before the final surrender on the 7th November

ZENTA
(Austrian-Ottoman Battle of Zenta), 16th
August 1914, southern Adriatic Sea, off Antivari
(Bar), Montenegro (c
42-00’N, 18-30’E) - French heavy
gunfire. 'Zenta'
(Cdr Paul Pachner) and escorting destroyer
'Ulan'
were blockading the Montenegran coast in foggy
conditions when surprised by the main French
battlefleet under Adm Lapeyrere, now based at
Malta
with the aim of keeping the Austrian fleet
locked in
the Adriatic. 'Ulan' escaped to the north, but
'Zenta' was cut off and received at least two
heavy
shell hits from dreadnought 'Courbet'. Severely
damaged, she blew up and sank around ten minutes
later, but most of her crew of 300 reportedly
got
ashore in their boats

LIKA
(region in Croatia),
29th December 1915, southern Adriatic Sea, off
Durazzo (Durres),
Albania (c 41-15’N, 19-15’E) - Italian mines.
Two Italian destroyers were
reported carrying troops to Durazzo at the time
of
the Serbian evacuation in the face of the slowly
advancing Austrian army. An Austrian force of
scout
'Helgoland' and five 'Tatra' destroyers were
ordered
to search for the Italians, and if unsuccessful
destroy any shipping in Durazzo. After sinking
the
French submarine 'Monge' on passage south. the
destroyers entered the harbour at daybreak, sank
three small ships and as shore batteries opened
up,
turned into a minefield. 'Triglav' and 'Lika'
detonated mines, 'Lika' sinking at once;
survivors
were picked up by her sister ships

TRIGLAV
(mountain in Slovenia), 29th
December 1915, southern Adriatic Sea, off Cape
Rodini,
Albania (c
41-30’N, 19-00’E) - scuttled after
striking Italian mine off Durazzo. On the same
mission as
'Lika', 'Triglav' was badly damaged in the same
minefield. 'Czepel' attempted to take her in
tow, but
fouled a propeller, and the job was taken over
by
'Tatra'. As the crippled Austrian force returned
slowly north at 6 knots, Allied ships got
between
them and their Cattarro base. 'Triglav' was
abandoned, but attempts to scuttle her failed.
She
was finished off by five French destroyers of
the
'Casque' group, including 'Casque' herself

U.3,
13th August 1915, Southern
Adriatic Sea, NE of Brindisi (41-00’N, 18-15’E)
- gunfire
of French
destroyer 'Bisson'. Italian AMC 'Citta di
Catania'
patrolling the northern end of the Strait of
Otranto
was attacked by the German-built 'U.3' (Lt Cdr
Karl
Strnad) on the 12th, but not hit. 'U.3' is
believed
to have been rammed and badly damaged in return,
and
was unable to submerge. Allied destroyers were
called
up and next morning on the 13th she was sighted
on
the surface and sunk by 'Bisson's' gunfire; 7
men
were lost including Lt Strnad, and 14 survivors
picked up

U.4 torpedoed
and sank Italian armoured cruiser 'Giuseppe
Garibaldi' in the central Adriatic in July 1915

U.5 torpedoed
and sank French armoured cruiser 'Leon Gambetta'
in
the southern Adriatic in April 1915

U.6,
13th May 1916, Southern
Adriatic Sea in Strait of Otranto, 12m ENE of
Cape Otranto
(40-10’N, c 18-45’E) - British drifter
nets and gunfire. Attempting
to break through the Otranto Barrage at night,
'U.6'
(Lt Cdr Hugo von Falkenhausen) fouled the nets
of
patrolling fishing drifter 'Calistoga', surfaced
and
was shelled by her and the 'Dulcie Doris' and
'Evening Star II'. The Austrian boat was
scuttled and
all 15 crew saved. One source gives the date as
the
10th May. Throughout the war, only two U-boats
were
confirmed sunk in the Otranto Barrage - Austrian
'U.6' at this time and German 'UB.53' in August
1918

21. U.7
class, U.7-U.11,
under construction in Germany and sold to the
German Navy
in November 1914. Commissioned as German U.66-70

Wartime
Additions (21)

20. (above
- concluded) U.5 class completed 1914 with
'U-12'

U.12 torpedoed
and
damaged French dreadnought 'Jean Bart' in the
Adriatic Sea in December 1914

U.12,
8th August 1915, northern
Adriatic Sea, off Venice, NE Italy - Italian
mines. Most sources presume she was
lost on mines on or around the 11th or 12th
trying to
penetrate the harbour defences of Venice. Kemp's
'U-Boats Destroyed' is more specific - 'U.12'
(Lt Cdr
Egon Lerch) was on patrol off Venice and on the
6th
August damaged by Italian destroyer 'Rossolina
Pilo'.
Two days later an explosion was observed in a
defensive minefield and divers sent down. The
wreck
of 'U.12' with her stern damaged was found 7.6
miles
bearing 104 degrees from the Punta Sabbioni
lighthouse in the Venetian lagoon; all 13 crew
were
lost with her

Transported from
Germany to Pola in sections, 'U.10' initially
commissioned as German 'UB.1', 'U.22' as 'UB.15'

U.10
(ex-German
'UB.1'), damaged
9th July 1918, northern Adriatic Sea, off
Caorle, NE Italy in the Gulf of
Venice (c 45-30’N, 13-00’E) - Italian mines.
Heavily damaged by
a mine, 'U.10' (Lt Cdr Johann von Ulmansky) was
beached between Caorle and the estuary of the
Tagliamento River. She was salvaged and towed to
Trieste, but not repaired before the end of the
war;
all her crew of 13 were saved

U.16,
17th October 1916, southern
Adriatic Sea, off Valona (Vlore), Albania (c
40-45’N,
19-00’E) - Italian convoy ships and escorts.
During a convoy attack, 'U.16'
(Lt Cdr Oerst von Zopa) torpedoed Italian
destroyer
'Nembo', but was then sunk herself. She may have
been
rammed and badly damaged by one of the convoyed
ships, Italian steamer 'Borminda' (or
'Bermida'), and
scuttled. Or otherwise sunk by the exploding
depth
charges of 'Nembo' which had not been set to
'safe'
before she went down; 11 of 'U.16’s' crew
including her CO were lost and two survivors
picked
up

U.20, 4th July
1918, northern
Adriatic Sea, off
the estuary of the Tagliamento River, west of
Trieste (45-29’N, 13-02’E) -
torpedoed once by Italian submarine 'F.12'. The
attack on 'U.20' (Lt Cdr
Ludwig Muller) by the surfaced 'F.12' took place
on
the night of the 4th/5th from a range of 650
yards.
Other sources give the date as the 6th or 9th
July
1918; all her crew were lost. 'U.20’s' salvaged
midships section and conning tower is on display
at
the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Vienna

U.23, 21st
February 1918, southern
Adriatic Sea, off Valona (Vlore), Albania in the
Strait of
Otranto (40-26’N, 19-02’E) - Italian torpedo
boat 'Airone'. 'U.23'
(Lt Cdr Klemens von Bezard) was first sighted on
the
surface by 'Airone' which attempted to ram. Once
submerged the destroyer sunk her with a towed
explosive paravane. Sources differ on 'U.23’s'
activities at this time - she was either
attacking an
Allied convoy or attempting to break through the
Strait of Otranto, or perhaps both; all her crew
were
lost

U.30,
early April 1917, possibly
southern Adriatic Sea in the Strait of Otranto
area - missing. 'U.30' (Lt Cdr Friedrich
Fahndrich) sailed from Cattaro (Kotor) on the
31st
March 1917 for Mediterranean patrol between
Malta and
Crete, and was never seen again. Some sources
suggest
she disappeared around the 1st or 2nd, cause
unknown,
but possibly mined in the Otranto Barrage or an
accident off Cape Otranto. She might also have
gone
down in the Mediterranean, one of the few
U-boats
lost in the area in 1917; all her crew were lost